Mount Vernon senior Maddie Plotz signed a letter of intent Thurs. Feb. 3 to wrestle for Iowa West, becoming the first girl to sign on to play at the collegiate level from the Mustangs program.
“She’s a neat story, because she was a middle school wrestling manager,” said Mustang coach Aaron Truitt.
“Her father would take her to Iowa wrestling meets at an early age. She’s always been passionate about the sport of wrestling,” he said.
Plotz was the team manager for her freshman year, but before her sophomore year began, Adam Truitt (Aaron’s brother), and Kyle Jaspers “sort of spearheaded the push to start a girls wrestling club here in Mount Vernon, and it grew from there.”
So for Plotz’s three remaining high school years, she both wrestled for the team — and managed it.
Plotz goes through practice “doing all the drills, all the exercises, and then stays an extra 25-30 mins every day after practice to help wash the mats and clean the room,” said Truitt.
Truitt and another assistant coach, Greg Murphy, drove Plotz and others on the club to and from most tournaments, and Truitt indicated he was proud of her growth.
Her growth culminated in placing eighth in the state tournament a few weeks ago, a goal of hers since she began wrestling.
“To see her place at the state tournament, to see her finally get on the podium and over that hump was really exciting,” said Truitt.
Truitt said Plotz “worked hard and improved every year,” and that he will be excited to follow her next season as she represents wthe Iowa West Reivers.